Call to end abortion pills by post after poisoning

An anti-abortion group has called for abortion medication to stop being accessible by post after a man was convicted of poisoning a woman with pills.

Stuart Worby, 40, from Dereham, Norfolk, was jailed for 12 years for sexually assaulting the pregnant woman and giving her abortion medication.

Right To Life UK wants the government to suspend the ability for people to be sent this medication by post, which was introduced during the Covid pandemic, in light of the case.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service said women needed to access safe abortions and should not be punished "for the actions of abusive men".

Worby gave the woman mifepristone crushed up in a glass of orange juice. The next day he administered misoprostol during a sexual assault.

The pills are commonly used together to induce a miscarriage in early pregnancy.

They are usually given 24 hours apart and can be administered at home after a women has had a consultation with a doctor.

Worby's victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a miscarriage in hospital within hours of the assault, which happened in 2022.

Worby obtained the medication from a friend, Neuza Cepeda, who posed as a woman in need of an abortion.

After a phone consultation with a doctor at a London clinic, they sent her the medication.

The pills-by-post scheme enables women who are less than 10 weeks pregnant to access abortion medication after a phone or video consultation with a doctor.

It was introduced during the Covid pandemic to ensure women could continue to access terminations during early pregnancy. The scheme was made permanent in March 2022.

Critics have said the removal of the requirement for an in-person medical appointment leaves the process open to abuse.

Earlier this year, a cross-party group of MPs tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to try to restore the pre-pandemic requirement for a face-to-face medical check before abortion medication could be prescribed.

The Department for Health and Social Care said there were no plans to review the system.

A spokesperson said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the victim in this horrific case.

"It is crucial that women who choose abortion are able to do so safely, and the department works closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and providers to ensure that abortions are provided legally and with robust clinical oversight."

They added that women prescribed medication to terminate a pregnancy were warned that it was illegal to give it to anyone else.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service pointed out the scheme to acquire abortion pills by post was safely used by tens of thousands of women every year.

Heidi Stewart, the group's chief executive officer, said it was right Worby’s abuse of the system was punished but she defended the pills-by-post process.

"For anti-abortion groups to use this abuse, to call for the removal of confidential, accessible abortion care to thousands of women each year, is predictable and completely unsupported by evidence.

"Making abortion harder to access would give the defendant and men like [Worby] more power and control over the most vulnerable women.

"Women should not be punished for the actions of abusive men."

Nueza Cepeda, 39, of Walnut Drive, Dereham, pleaded guilty to supplying medication to be used with intent to procure a miscarriage.

She was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years.